The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Usman Baba has ordered an investigation into the arrest and detention of one Glory Okolie, 21, in Imo for allegedly befriending a member of the Eastern Security Network (ESN).
Okolie was said to have been arrested by operatives of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) on June 17, 2021, to be used as bait to track down her boyfriend.
The IRT operatives allegedly used her as a “maid”, making her cook and wash their clothes until she was taken to the police headquarters in Abuja.
It was learnt that Okolie’s family had been searching for her until they got information that she was in the custody of the IRT.
However, her story generated public outcry on social media on Wednesday when rights activist and Director General, Behind Bars Initiative, Harrison Gwamnishu posted about it on Facebook.
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Gwamnishu accused the IRT operatives of extorting the family, after they went to their office to seek her bail.
“21-year-old Miss Glory Okolie, who enrolled for the 2021 JAMB exam, has been in police detention since 17th June, 2021 till date. She left the house and never returned.
“Since 17th June, her family had searched for her in hospitals and mortuaries but couldn’t find her. Ending of June 2021, a young man who was freed from the IRT office Tiger Base, Owerri, told the Okolie family that he saw Glory in the custody of IRT officers cooking and washing clothes for them.
“The family immediately went to the IRT office and requested to see Glory and bail her out and till date, it’s been one story or the other. The IRT officers allegedly continued to extort the family and denied them access to see Glory. Our team launched an investigation and discovered Glory has been transferred to Abuja and tagged an IPOB/ESN member,” he wrote.
The activist later told The Punch that he met DCP Olatunji Disu, the new Head of IRT, and the police could not pin any crime on her beyond being the girlfriend of an IPOB/ESN member.
“The office is cooperating with us. The current head of the unit said he just resumed and that the IG commissioned a committee to look into people arrested for IPOB issues after the Glory story went viral. The committee is already profiling the suspects. They are many; they are more than 100 and they are interviewing them. We learnt the committee will give a report tomorrow morning and we were told to come and pick the girl by 11 am,” Gwamnishu said.